The present invention generally relates to an animation puppet for use in art, education, animation and toys. More specifically, the present invention relates to an animation puppet having a highly articulable, free-standing and precision-posable skeletal frame for creating stop-motion armatures that can be positioned into a wide range of expressive and gravity defying poses.
Puppets are generally well known in the art and are used as inanimate objects animated or manipulated by a puppeteer. Some of the first known uses date back to 5th century Greece where the Greeks controlled such inanimate objects with draw-strings or pull-strings. Puppetry was also popularized in other areas of Europe and Asia as part of ancient forms of theater. Over the years, many different types of puppets have been developed, including fairly simple finger puppets, sock puppets, hand or glove puppets, Marottes, and more complex puppets, such as the Bunraku puppet (Japan), Marionette pull string puppets, etc. The more complex versions may require training to learn how to manipulate strings, poles, pulleys or the like. Alternative puppets may include carnival or body puppets worn and shown off as part of larger festivals or gatherings, such as parades or sporting events. In this respect, there are many different types and varieties of puppets, which, of course, are made from a wide range of materials, depending on the form and intended use. Obviously the complexity of the puppet can range from being simple to extremely complex—such design impacts the construction and the feasibility of operation once constructed.
Of the variety of puppets, stop-motion animation puppets may be used in television, the movies, and related entertainment as an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own. The animation is created by moving the object in small increments between individually photographed frames. When the photographed frames are played back as a continuous sequence, it creates the illusion that the puppet is moving. Dolls with movable joints or clay and cast foam figures (e.g., “clay-mations”) are often used in stop motion animation. Unfortunately, stop-motion animation puppets known in the art are not suitable for use “right out of the box”. For example, creating a doll with joints capable of being used for stop-motion animation requires formation of an underlying skeleton/armature, additional fabrication, sculpting, casting, tooling, adjustments, labor, etc. Clay figures, in particular, must be carefully designed and formed by a skilled artist.
Obviously, the problem with these known prior art puppets used for high-quality stop-motion animation is that they are complex, labor intensive to make, and require specialized designs and equipment to fabricate. Accordingly, specialized technicians and artists skilled in making puppets are often required, and the resultant designs are not easy to reproduce or mass manufacture. These individually produced puppets must then be fine tuned to operate as a positionable-ready animation puppet. Of course, the process and nature of the work required to create a highly functioning positionable-ready animation puppet makes them less suitable for mass production. The high cost, time, skill, resources, and materials required to make quality animation puppets reduces the affordability of quality animation puppets.
Typically, the labor intensive process for making a stop-motion animation puppet is to first design a metal skeleton/armature, e.g., with computer aided design (“CAD”) software. Then, a highly skilled engineer or machinist fabricates the skeleton/armature out of metal rods and/or bearings based on the CAD design. Next, to turn the machine-finished metal skeleton/armature into a positionable animation puppet, a highly skilled artist sculpts clay and/or casts rubber foam around the metal skeleton/armature. Once the sculpting and casting has been completed, finishing details are applied, such as removing flash (i.e., excess material at the seams, resulting from molding processes), adding paint, color, etc. Even at this point, the stop-motion animation puppet still requires a great deal of tweaking or “tensioning” by a specialist (e.g., an animator) before the puppet is ready for production. “Tensioning” is the tedious process of loosening and/or tightening screws in the joints of the underlying skeleton/armature with a screwdriver, to achieve the tension necessary for the puppet to be positioned and animated correctly. This can be a labor intensive process itself as it is desired only to move the skeletal/armature structure of the puppet in small increments to obtain the desired sequencing movement when played back as a continuous stream. Traditional stop-motion puppets require tensioning before animating, so the joints are strong enough to hold the weight of the puppet, yet not tensioned or tightened to the degree the animator is unable to move the joints. As such, depending how well the stop-motion animation puppet is designed, each puppet may vary in quality and performance. Variances in the design and construction of the puppet greatly influence the level of precision and functionality, especially since the puppets are typically built one-off and by hand. This, accordingly, decreases the anticipated quality and repeatability from one puppet to the next. Afterward, this type of puppet requires a great deal of upkeep and tweaking to ensure the various controls keep working.
Other drawbacks known in the art of such stop-motion animation puppets is that they have a limited range of motion, may have inconsistent articulation and functionality (e.g., unable to hold poses after repeated use because the joints give out too quickly for use in animation), lack precision (e.g., animation puppets known in the art do not have the level of articulation in the foot required by an animator to achieve quality animation, such as by way of an articulating toe), are typically not free-standing (rather require additional support equipment or tools to hold the puppet upright), and may have inconsistent joint performance requiring additional tweaking to maintain proper functionality, especially after prolonged use. Such drawbacks can affect the overall quality of the animation because the animator is unable to achieve the degree of precision and range of motion desired.
Some toy manufacturers mass produce action figurines that have somewhat movable joints. Such action figures known in the art may include the Stikfas manufactured by Stikfas Pte Ltd of 39 Ean Kiam Place, Singapore, Singapore 429124 or the G.I. Joe manufactured by Hasbro, Inc. of 1027 Newport Avenue, Pawtucket, R.I. 02862. Notably, these action figures were not designed for stop-motion animation. For example, the Stikfas were designed as a 3.5 inch posable toy figure, not an animation tool or animation puppet. These products simply do not have the degree of functionality or precision required by an animator, for the purpose of animation. Similarly, while it may be possible to selectively position a G.I. Joe as part of a stop-action filming process, there is no real way to ensure precision-based adjustments, balance, etc. Toys like Stikfas, G.I. Joe, Modibots, manufactured by Go Go Dynamo of Providence, R.I., and Bionicles, manufactured by LEGO Juris A/S Corporation of Koldingvej 2 Billund DK-7190, Denmark, are too limited in supination or pronation rotation of the joints (e.g., ankles, shoulders, etc.), do not have double jointed shoulders, do not have double jointed head/neck joints, lack the natural range of motion in the shoulders and head/neck, and do not have the capability to be position onto the toes without the use of an additional support system (namely because the toe joint is non-existent) to hold the figure upright.
Thus, there exists a significant need in the art for an animation puppet for use in stop-motion animation that can be mass manufactured, is precision-positionable for a high degree of repeat positioning over and extended time, and that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, e.g., by way of precision injection molding. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.